All About the Magical Wand History and Lore Free PDF download

The wand is the quintessential mythical tool of magic. No magical fantasy character is without one. Wands make things happen and make nifty weapons, don’t they? Perhaps because, in real magic, the wand is a symbol of the magician’s will and acts as a symbolic tool of concentration and direction of energy.

The wand is associated with space, mind, healing, communication, and the element of fire. In its fiery aspect, it represents the male and solar regenerative power—a phallic, fertile symbol.

The celebrated early 20^th century mage Aleister Crowley referred to the wand as a symbol of the magician’s oath. What was the oath but commitment to attaining “True Will.” True Will was Crowley’s term for spiritual liberation and enlightenment.  Crowley says in his book Liber IV:

 “The Magick Wand is thus the principal weapon of the Magus; and the ‘name’ of that wand is the Magical Oath.”

The wand is a symbol of the magical worker’s power to act. It is a symbol of the magician himself. As the 16^th century mage Giordano Bruno said in De Magia:

“[In the highest sense] a magician is a wise man who knows how to act.”

In other words, a magician, ideally, is a person who has gained self-mastery.

Well, that sounds kind of egg-heady and a far cry from the swish-and-flick romance we love about the magical wand. But maybe the explanation takes the strangeness—the scary foreignness—out of the picture about what a “magical wand” really is. And maybe it makes it okay for you to have one not only as a kitschy novelty item or children’s toy but as a powerful symbol of spiritual goals and intentions.

 Where did the idea of the magical wand originate anyway? Learn more from this free, illustrated pdf booklet.

Learn about how real magic in history inspired myth and fantasy.

Sample from All About the Magical Wand

Sample from All About the Magical Wand

Sample from All About the Magical Wand

Disposing of Sirens -- Excerpt from The Fallen Fairy -- Fantasy Fiction Ebook, Magic and Occult Insight

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Sirens were creatures that were half-bird, half-woman, in origin, perhaps like the Egyptian ba. To the ancient Egyptians, the ba was the surviving part of a person that flew to the Underworld when a person died, but sirens were renegade creatures. According to classical myth, they lived on treacherously rocky isles off the coast of Sicily. They wanted nothing more than to entice passing sailors. Being lured, these sailors, thinking they’d get good head, instead found themselves in listless, dumbfounded stupors from which they languished and died.

It was portended that if a ship passed in which the occupants were resistant to the sirens’ song, the sirens, in frenzied dismay, would kill themselves. Thus, it is told in the Odyssey that these creatures leaped off cliffs when the epic’s hero, Odysseus, and his crew sailed by.

The sirens descended to the Underworld where they continued to sing, this time in mourning for the dead. Their imagery became mixed up with that of mermaids who themselves, in lore, were the mystical remnants of disposed-of women. Taking vengeance on the violence done to them, mermaids, thus, lured men to their deaths with the promise of sex through the sweetness of their song.

It all meant something metaphorical about men, women, ecstasy, sense control, and, of course, sex and death. One had to ponder it and trace the meme across cultures and time. To say that Aisa Morae was a siren—or a fairy—a banshee or strix—was mere convention. No one knew what she really was except that she was something of a Pandora’s box that had a thin layer of jewels at the top under which scorpions rustled.

But it could be argued that, since Aisa Morae was more a magical entity than a person, she was actually a “thought-form.” That is, she was really something that someone had magically thought up in such a way that the thought took on form and came to life.

Thought-form‒like beings could linger indefinitely, although they might become increasingly unstable over time.  Aisa conceivably could go on for lifetimes, becoming increasingly fouler and more erratic. It all depended on the prowess of whoever had set her in motion in the first place. . .

The burning question for Michael was whether Aisa Morae was ensouled or whether she was more of a phantasm. If she were ensouled, disposing of her would be a criminal act. If she were a thought-form—that is, a mirage of the imagination—especially if she were a troublesome one—then making her go away might be a good deed.

The Falllen Fairy-- A Modern Fairy Tale? Polyamorous Romance, Alchemy, Magic, Magical Creatures and Mayhem

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When a fairy is discovered to have haplessly incarnated as the quirky girl-next-door, sorcerers from another dimension come out of the woodwork to vie for her affections in the interests of love and occult power. But is she an unwitting fairy or a more dynamically charged and even dangerous creature? A savior, a redeemer, and a siren, she puts her men in their place.

The story opens with a gal named Bellaluna Drago, who is having a hard day, having been jilted by a boyfriend via email. She is observed by two men, Michael Solaris and his mentor Anderson Albright, who are denizens of the Inner Plane. Michael Solaris, we learn, is a co-conspirator in an underground populist movement called the Lions of Light. He is working in the Outer Plane as a neuroscientist and being stalked by a deranged “fatal attraction” who is actually a magical creature. When Michael chivalrously assists Bellaluna in the simple act of holding open a door, he realizes that she is not an ordinary “Commons” woman but the hapless incarnation of a magical being: a “fairy,” like his stalker. Against Anderson Albright’s protests, Michael begins to pursue Bellaluna as a romantic interest-with-benefits but also harbors sincere aims of protecting her against more opportunistic magical persons of his kind.

Meanwhile, a sorcerer of a darker bent, Tristan Lundragon, a cryptologist/steganographer who secretly acts as a Lions of Light conspirator, has independently identified Bellaluna and is convinced that he, in a past life as the 16^th century occultist Lunaris Dracon, was responsible for her manifestation. A heated confrontation between Tristan, Anderson Albright, and Michael Solaris ensues. Lundragon and Albright, however, ultimately form a secret pact about how the men will train and work the “fallen fairy” Bellaluna Drago.

As Bellaluna begins piecing together her odd circumstance, and after tragedy strikes, she and Tristan Lundragon ultimately acquiesce to polyamorous love triangle that includes Tristan’s research partner and sometime male lover Jason Paleologos. Tensions mount, however, as the powers-that-be target Tristan and Jason because of their connection to Michael Solaris through Bellaluna Drago and dangerous empowerments they have attained through their liaison with her.

References to alchemy, medieval occultism, the "language of the birds," steganography, and sex magic permeate the text. Each of the 22 chapters is named for and thematically reflects a card of the Tarot’s Upper Arcana.

Siren orgy --digital art by Dee Rapposelli

La Maga - Harry Potter for Grownups Fantasy Fiction Magic Romance Politics and Transcendence

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“Harry Potter” for grown-ups. When a lady mage returns to her hometown in her magical world from long years of exile in the Himalayas and thereabouts, her epiphany radically transforms the lives of an imposing, elitist, and bacchanalian dignitary and his troubled teenaged son.  The binding quality of love and conspiratorial influences propel the dignitary and his son to avatar-like roles in the up-ending of the political power structure of the land.

Sofia La Maga character study
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The story opens with the return from political exile of the lady mage Sofia La Maga. She has spent about a dozen years traveling and studying in the mystical East and so the story is peppered with imagery and insights associated with Eastern mysticism. Upon her return from exile, Sofia takes a teaching position at her alma mater, the H. Trismegistus Mystical Arts Academy. Although the consul of the sovereignty, an imposing, elitist, and somewhat bacchanalian sorcerer named Leo de Lux, is adverse to Sofia’s return, Sofia takes a liking to the sorcerer’s troubled teenaged son, Leonard junior.

Leonard de Lux character study

In an opening scene, reminiscent of the Harry Potter series, Leonard Jr. and Sofia La Maga have their initial exchange during a first day of class during which the youth tries to perpetrate a prank on the new teacher. In time, Sofia and Leonard junior enter into a sympathetic relationship through which the youth undergoes a profound transformation and secretly becomes an apprentice to the lady mage. Meanwhile, sexual tension is building between Sofia and her seeming polar opposite, the consul of the sovereignty Leo de Lux.

Leo de Lux instigates a threatening confrontation with Sofia when his suspicions that his son has apprenticed with her come to light. The confrontation, h owever, leads to an unlikely love affair.

Lord Consul Leo de Lux Sortiar character study

Public displays of magical prowess again put the lady mage in a bad light with a certain notorious power-broker, the sorcerer Hipparchus Gorgon, who holds great influence in a corrupt and corporatist political structure in which Leo de Lux is integrally embroiled. Meanwhile, de Lux’s estranged and disinherited elder brother Emmanuel, a provocateur in an underground populist movement called the Lions of Light, reemerges to coax his younger sibling to assume what he believes is a portended, avatar-like role in a political coup. The conspiratorial influences of Sofia La Maga and Emmanuel de Lux put Leo de Lux at a self-defining cross-road.

Inspiring Fantasy & Occult Fiction La Maga A Soiree into Mystic Mysteries

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Reviews refer to Amazon Kindle version.

"Sometimes it may seem like we need magic to find happiness. "La Maga: A Story about Sorcerers and Magi" is a sensual fantasy novel following lady mage Sofia la Maga as she returns home to help a troubled teen, who happens to be the son of a renowned sorcerer. A tale marked by sorcerers' exotic charisma as well as social unrest against injustice, and the repercussions of an unruly system of magic, "La Maga" is tempestuous soiree into mystic mysteries."  

--The Midwest Book Review midwestbookreview.com

“La Maga captures the otherworldliness of Harry Potter but tackles larger political, spiritual, and emotional issues. Soror’s writing style drew me in from Sofia’s awkward walk down the school hallway through her complicated relationship with Leo De Lux and a life-or-death magical battle and all the way to hope for what today might be called Occupy the Inner and Outer Planes! . . . La Maga is an engaging read for anyone who refuses to think that what we see is all that exists, a trip into a parallel universe that gives unique, playful form to the concepts of Shaktipat, Buddhism, folk magic, mysticism, the occult and adolescent rebellion all mixed together into a brilliant, poignant and ultimately timely story.”

“This is a novel of magic by a true expert in both Western and Eastern systems of magic and mysticism. The author’s knowledge shines throughout the narrative, exciting the reader with tastes of this-world esoterica amplified in to the scale of an amazing universe of multiple plains of reality. Within all the magical and metaphysical goings-on are stories of young love, generational conflict, and spiritual transformation. A source of enjoyment and enlightenment for young and old!”“

. . . I am also incredibly impressed with the depth of knowledge that the author appears to have for various mystical and spiritual arts from the mainstream to the more obscure. It’s a smooth read, peppered with layers of deep spiritual teachings and references should the reader’s interest be piqued. The mystical and spiritual details read like poetry, not preaching. It’s a skillfully rendered sensual work about magical beings that inhabit their world, and more surprisingly, our own.”

Other books in the series       75% Discount at smashwords.com         

   

75% discount on ebook for July only use code SSW75

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Upcoming Free Book Ask about it

  

Interview about the Sorcerers and Magi ebook series Occult fiction Fantasy fiction

What motivated you to begin writing the sorcerers and magi series?

I started to write the series in 2003 which was the time that the Harry potter movies and the books were gaining a lot of momentum. I knew very many 30-60 year-olds who were very enthusiastic about the book series. Honestly I never read the books but I’ve really enjoyed watching the movies and started to make up episodes in my head so I could be entertained in between movies. In any case, I realized that I had built up a completely unique story, with adult themes and complex characters, such as the antihero Leo de Lux. He starts out as a caustic and villainous but an becomes an ambiguous hero and maintains that role throughout the series. 

My aim was to reach adults who otherwise have an interest in classic children’s magical fantasy literature but want more than mere escape. The series offers thought-provoking ideas about self and finding oneself and one’s true purpose and is geared to adult fiction readers drawn to magic, mysticism, and spirituality.

How did you come up with the geography of the magical world?

My story takes place in a parallel universe called the Inner Plane that has a look and feel like our own. The structure of government is loosely based on the classical roman paradigm. The same sort of power-mongering and dog-eat-dog kind of stuff that goes on in our world also happens in this Inner Plane world, with the idea that Inner Plane strongly influences how things roll in the Outer plane. 

I picked up the term “Inner Plane” from the writings of an occultist in the Dion Fortune tradition named Gareth Knight. The Inner Plane is basically the world within the mind—a place of archetypal forms, dreams, and ideas in general. In a sense, it is in incubation place where thoughts become Reality.

Specific ideas spirituality, magic and mysticism permeate your work. How much research do you do in relation to this?

I’m using fiction as a creative and playful way to express my long-time interests in spirituality, magic, and mysticism. The work is a product of a lifetime of research, practice, and hands on experience in Eastern spirituality and the Western Mystery Tradition. The first book in the series, La Maga, is probably most influenced by my background in Buddhism and especially Vedanta, which is the philosophy about the “Oneness” of all things. It underlies Vedic Hinduism. By the time I got to writing the second book, The Fallen Fairy, I had become interested in philosophical alchemy and medieval magic and so you will find underlying themes about alchemy, spiritual transformation as well as reincarnation, fairy lore, and sex magic in that book. When I wrote the third book, The Savior at the End of Time, I had become an enthusiast of a current in postmodern occultism called Chaos Magick and a related counterculture scene called Discordianism. Those interests became interjected into that novel.

Given the subject matter, who exactly is your audience in relation to subcategory of fantasy fiction? You say it is for adults. Does this mean that content is inappropriate for children?

It is occult fantasy fiction but it is not dark. It has elements of paranormal romance in it but there are no vampires in the Gothic sense although the books have a running theme about psychic vampirism. That is, some of my characters have the ability to absorb life energy out of people—and this basically what the magic of the evil eye is. It philosophical and a little literary, so it is not always light reading although humor is definitely interjected into it. If you have an interest in spiritual philosophy, world religion, and alternative spirituality and spiritual development, including magical spiritual systems and –like fantasy fiction you’ll probably appreciate the books. They do have sexual content —especially in the second, which addresses polyamory and bisexuality, but it is not erotica. It is not graphic or voyeuristic. I am addressing sexuality on a more substantive level when I write about it. There’s political metaphor that brushes on themes related to anarchy, especially in the third novel—so all these things are probably not appropriate for younger people. That said, I was reading The Exorcist, The Stepford Wives, and the Biography of Lenny Bruce when I was 16 years old, so could a precocious kid with a high reading level get into it if it was OK with mom and dad. Yeah sure.

How long do you spend writing a book? What is your process regarding plot progression and character development?

I often “see” the whole story at once in a condensed form in my head. I role it around in my head for a while until a substantive narrative forms and characters emerge. Then I write it down. Once I dream up the main characters, they take on lives their own and then they sort of tell me their story or I feel like I’m watching a movie about them in my mind. If a lapse in the project occurs and too many days go by w/o writing, I run the risk of losing the momentum. So, when I am writing a story, I am fully immersed it in, always seeing it unfold in my mind’s eye. and always with a notepad of laptop to capture the action.

Why did you decide to go the self-publishing route? Any advice for others following this trend?

When the story La Maga came to me, I, frankly, hesitated about writing it because I knew I would be dedicating every free moment to writing a story and then beat my head against a brick wall trying to get noticed by an agent or small book publisher. Finding an agent is a Catch 22, you have to be published to get published and if someone comes forward to represent you or small book publisher shows interest, you have to be very careful about who and what you are getting involved with because you could end up with a bad deal. Self publishing has become respectable and perhaps is proving ground where an author that sells well will be noticed by agents and topline publishers. That is not to say it is at all easy. To do it successfully, you need a very large circle of contacts that are willing to promote you by buying and reviewing your books. You need to have mastered social media, and you have to have PR savvy.

Have you published nonfiction on magical or mystical themes?

I published a nonfiction book on my experiences working with a 16th century magical book called the Arbatel. My book is called The Seal of Secrets of the World Adventures in Astral Magic, and I self-published it under the magical pen name Soror ZSD23. The Seal of Secrets of the World is actually a diagram described the Arbatel. The Arbatel is a treatise on how to live in harmony, ease, and intimacy with the energies of the Multiverse. Behind the Christian piety is a more ancient spiritual paradigm that views the world as a multilayered place full of spiritual beings. In the spring and summer of 2010, I explored the content of the Arbatel and, in the context of solitary and group workings, evoked the “Olympic Spirits” described in the text. These are spiritual intelligences associated with the planets and named after Roman deities. The book expresses my experiences and insights in working with the Arbatel, provides guidance on practicing and simplifying evocation magic, and links to important related texts. It also includes auxiliary essays related to my studies in magic and mysticism.

What are you working on next?

I am an artist as well, and so I have been working on an illustrated version of La Maga. Some characters studies can be viewed on my sorcerersandmagi.com web site and my artist web site, deerapposelli.com.  I am now also busy working on an illustrated nonfiction booklet called All about the Magic Wand, which I am going to offer for free along with a limited promo of original art. I am hoping to use it as a “thank you” for folks interested in my Sorcerers and Magi series. I have two more books in the series that are both in early stages. One is a prequel that tells the story of a Led-Zeppelin-like sorcerous rock band called Homunculus Tongue that gets mentioned throughout the currently published books in the series. The other book in progress picks up where the third book in the series leaves off—in a post-apocalyptic world where the Outer and Inner Plane are thrown together and a brother and sister realize their true magical selves. --reprinted from Smashwords.com